One Phone Call Away, But Realms Apart
by ProtoChan
Summary: Regina's been none too happy ever since she was awoken from her personal curse, but as she hears her cursed son talk about his dying daughter, it's enough to nearly tip Regina over the edge of despair. Deleted scene from 7X10 when Regina calls Henry to check in on him just before she and Zelena go back to HH. Not really angsty per se, but hopefully pretty feelsy.


**One Call Away, But Realms Apart (Regal Believer)**

 **Summary: Regina's been none too happy ever since she was awoken from her personal curse, but as she hears her cursed son talk about his dying daughter, it's enough to nearly tip Regina over the edge of despair. Deleted scene from 7X10 when Regina calls Henry to check in on him just before she and Zelena go back to HH. Not really angsty per se, but hopefully pretty feelsy.**

 **A/N: This was really freakin' fun to work on, and got me out of my writer's rut! Hope you all enjoy it too!**

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Zelena had told Regina to wait until after dinner to call Henry. She argued, quite validly, that Henry's flight would take a few hours and he'd need time with Jacinda and Lucy.

Because of that, Regina waited, and the two of them had dinner together in Zelena's apartment. Their meal, had it not been overshadowed by the weight of their situation, might have been much sweeter than it had been allowed to be. Zelena had insisted on eating pizza, moaning about her desire for a reunion with carbs and grease, and that couple with further details about her sister's cursed lifestyle were enough to make Regina produce at least a couple of genuine smiles. They spent the time while finishing off the pie talking about their time under the curse. Regina almost got covered in tomato sauce when she told her sister that Hook had become an Eagle Scout of a detective who was now gallivanting around town with Rumpelstiltskin.

However, as nice as it was to reconnect with Zelena after all this time, the hours passed as slowly as a snail's trip up a windy hill. Regina had made a habit of looking at her watch whenever there was any kind of silence between them, and sometimes, even if there wasn't one. She was sure that Zelena had picked up on what she was doing, but she didn't say anything. If Regina had the heart for it, she would've laughed. Time had ingrained her sister with sentiment and empathy the likes of which she would have scoffed at when they first met.

Following dinner, Zelena asked to take a look at Regina's car, wanting to know how much space she'd have for her things before she started packing. Regina obliged, and a few minutes later, they were outside her building. Zelena had a quick look around the car, nodded, and then turned to Regina.

"I'm going to go ready my stuff," she said. "Have a feeling I'm going to be gone for quite a while." Zelena then pat Regina on her shoulder and gave her a sad smile. "Go talk to Henry."

Regina, despite her longing to do just that, stayed put and bit her lip in hesitation.

"Do you think enough time has passed?" She asked.

Zelena nodded. "I do. And in the highly unlikely chance I'm wrong," she added, grinning, "he'll let you know. Now go and call him. I've a lot to pack." With that, Zelena headed back into her apartment. Regina, deciding not to wait another moment longer, plugged in Henry's name into her smartphone and clicked the call button.

One ring passed, then two, then three. Regina's heart started to sink, dreading the familiar sound of her son's voicemail, when suddenly, he picked up.

"Henry?" Regina said, her voice a touch hitched despite her best efforts.

"Hey, Roni." It was odd to Regina just how odd her cursed name had sounded to her ears after a only a few hours of answering to her real name. She made a mental note to have Zelena practice saying her cursed name in the car until it was natural. For now though, Regina brushed aside her awkwardness and went straight to the point.

"How's Lucy?"

"She the same," Henry answered, so quietly that Regina almost didn't hear him. Regina had asked that question knowing how Henry would likely respond, but nothing could prepare her for how miserable the words sounded as they came out his mouth. Regina felt her heart plumett down her chest in a way it hadn't in so long.

"Henry, I," Regina started, but stopped just as quickly. She chided herself for nearly telling him that she understood what he was going through. She knew that that choice of words would at best come off as an empty platitude and at worst result in icy words getting thrown back in her direction, for how could she explain that less than twenty years ago, she was in a similar situation?

Regina sighed, and worked out another phrasing of her sentiments.

"Henry, I'm so sorry," she rectified, her voice low.

"Jacinda and I haven't left the room in hours. Right now, she's passed out on a chair by Lucy's bed. She's exhausted. Probably has been up for a whole day by now."

There was a pause, as if both of them were trying to figure out what next to say.

"I read to her," Henry eventually continued. "Jacinda thought it would be a good idea." Regina smiled. It was such a Henry thing to do to read to someone in distress, even if Jacinda had ultimately motivated him to do it. She could even picture it. Henry always had the perfect reading voice.

"That-that's good. Did she respond to it at all?" For a moment, Regina had something that she had sorely lacked from the moment she had awoken from this most recent curse: hope.

"No," Henry sighed. Over the line, Regina could hear Henry's breath quicken up. Every inhale and exhale was audible and rapid, only grower moreso as the seconds passed. Regina leaned against the outer wall of her sister's apartment building. She once again knew that the answer to the question she was about to ask would only lead to pain, and right now, with Henry's knowledge of their true relationship gone and without any way of giving him the comfort she knew he desperately needed, Regina felt herself needing some semblance of support.

"Henry, are you okay?"

"Roni, I tried bringing her back, just like in my book." Regina stifled a sob as she heard a crack in his voice, one that only grew as he spoke. "You remember the part where Emma broke the curse, right? I kissed her on the forehead, just like in that scene. But it didn't work. I-I don't know why I tried it, but as I leaned in - I don't know - I just thought it would wake her up! I actually believed that I was her father, and I could stop all of this. I don't even know what to **think**! Am I going **insane**?" At this point, Regina was biting her tongue, a last resort to stay the tears that were pouring down her face like a ruptured pipe so that they wouldn't become outright sobs. On the other end of the line, while she couldn't see them, she swore Henry was shedding tears of his own.

Regina took a deep and shaky breath, knowing she'd need to speak.

"Henry," she said, as soberly as she could. "You're **not** crazy, do you hear me?" She could hear Henry chuckle, not bitterly, but sadly.

"I'm starting to think I just might be," Henry countered.

"Well, I'm here to tell you that you're **not**." Regina attributed her emphasis on that point to come down to a few things, not the least of which being guilt for cardinal sin of claiming the opposite all those years ago. "You care about this girl and you had hope, and there is **nothing** wrong with that." Her voice was loud and firm now, far more than Regina probably should have allowed it to be. "So you took a chance."

"And a fat lotta good it did," Henry commented.

"It's a **start** ," Regina encouraged, her voice now firm and unshaken. "Henry, I promise you: Lucy's going to be okay, and the two of you are **going** to be happy. Now, Kelly and I are heading back to the city tonight, and we'll be at the hospital the first thing tomorrow, but until that happens, I'm going to need you to promise me two things."

"Two?" Henry scoffed.

"Yes, two," Regina insisted. "First, you're to take care of yourself. Get some coffee and food in your system. You'll be no good to anyone if you can barely fight off your stomach. Don't forget: I know how you are with those donuts you bring in and the pretzels I leave out at the bar."

"Okay," Henry answered, clearly convinced. "What's the second promise?"

Regina took another deep breath. This promise she confessed that she hadn't thought out fully, but concluded that it was harmless enough. It was mostly for her peace of mind, because as it stood, her son's state scared her just a bit.

"You're to stay with Jacinda. Henry, she needs you now, and Lucy does too. So however sorry for yourself you're feeling, you're going to have to hold out just a little longer."

Another chuckle could be heard through the speaker of Regina's phone.

"You don't even need to ask me to do that, Roni."

Despite everything that would happen and everything that was sure to come, Regina smiled.

"You're a good man, Henry Mills, and I'm so proud of you." She knew what she had said may have come off a touch too motherly, and might even hold the risk of confusing Henry, but of all the things that she really wanted to say, this was the closest to the motivating words of a friend that she could come up with.

Thankfully, nothing that she said had seemed off putting in the slightest.

"Thanks, Roni. I'm glad I have you around. I'm pretty sure I'd **actually** go insane if I didn't. Well, you and Kelly have a long drive, so I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Good night, Henry." Honestly, had she not had the pressing need to drive through hours of traffic and darkness with her eccentric sister, she would have gladly stayed on with him all night if he wanted to. That said, she knew what they both needed to do, and an evening on the phone, no matter how comforting it would be to just talk to him and make him feel better as best as she cold, would do more harm than good for their purposes. So, with a heavy heart, Regina pressed the red button on her phone's touch screen, and brought their phone call to an end.

Regina despite every bit of somberness she wanted to sulk in, refused to let herself succumb to the darkness. Just as she'd said to Henry, she'd find a way to for he and Lucy to get their happy ending, no matter the cost.

As Regina approached her sister, ready to talk once more of strategies and information, she gritted her teeth with determination.

It was show time.


End file.
